The Return-A New Beginning (Vampire Diaries BOOK Fanfiction)
by JesycaStarr
Summary: After Damon dies and Elena wishes to have her old life back she rushes into creating a new life with Stefan, trying to leave the painful memories of Damon's love and death behind. But she can't forget him, and she's about to get married. What she doesn't know is that the power of her tears and the star-ball she destroyed preserved Damon's life. This is their reunion. Delena 3


**The Return-A New Beginning**

**Vampire Diaries Fanfic**

**1**

Elena Gilbert closed her eyes one last time, hoping that she would drift off to sleep.

_ Was it a mistake to stay in the boarding house with Stefan the entire week before the wedding?_ She thought,_ I'm just having pre-wedding jitters, its normal, right?_

But there was this feeling she hadn't been able to shake. This horrible thing always lingering in the back of her mind. She didn't know what it was or how to make it go away. Even Mrs. Flowers special tea hadn't been helping her sleep. The truth is she hadn't really slept in over a week, she had hoped that staying with Stefan would help but it just seemed to get worse.

She opened her eyes and saw that the LED clock read past 2 a.m. She turned over to see Stefan sleeping soundly as he did every night, oblivious to her tossing and turning and to her frequent absense in their bed.

Elena turned back over and sat up.

_ I'll go for a walk, _she thought,_ clear my mind and try to tire out my body so I can sleep at least a couple hours tonight. I don't want dark circles tomorrow. I can't be looking like some drugged up, tired out, insomniac on my wedding day. And I look best with no make-up so people will notice if I use it as a cover up._

Elena carefully stepped out of bed and walked to the door, slowly turning the knob so it wouldn't squeak. She went down the hallway, not intentionally but unconciously keeping her head facing a certin direction until she reached the stairs.

She found her slippers and headed for the front door. It was cold out, she could see her breath in the air.

_ I should have grabbed my robe._ She looked down at herself in her high-necked, white-laced nightgown. The thing in the back of her mind seemed to swell and pulsate at the sight, something about this nightgown and the glow of the moonlight made the pain grow. She got light-headed and quickly went back inside the house.

_ It's the white gown...like a wedding gown. I'm not getting cold feet,-this is normal,_ she assured herself,_ but I can't risk catching a cold tonight._

Elena went inside and made her way back up the stairs, slowly. When she was two steps from the top she saw a gleam of light that made her stop dead in her tracks.

It was the refelction of light off of a doorknob. A doorknob she hadn't touched in 4 months. Her mouth fell open, she took one gasp of air and then stopped breathing. Her heart seemed to skip a beat as tears fell from her wide-eyed stare and rolled down her cheek.

_Promise me you won't forget that I loved you._ She could hear his voice in her mind again. _Damon, I'm so sorry,_ she answered to his memory.

She ran up the stairs, not caring how much noise she made, and pressed herself against the door to his old room. No one had been in there since their return from the dark dimensions. She was so busy distracting herself in her new life, enjoying time with her Aunt and little sister. She had done it on purpose, pushing back her memory of him, her love for him because the pain was too much to bare.

_But I have to let you go, Damon. I can't marry Stefan like this. I do love him but its not fair to him. I can't talk to him about it... I'm afraid the pain will be too much for him as well. My diary doesn't help anymore. I need you Damon. WHY COULDN'T I SAVE YOU? _

She gripped the doorknob as memories came flashing back. She felt the pain on her thraot as she slashed it open in her memories. She remembered how she begged him to feed on her blood so he would regain his strength. Elena could see his face, unusually pale; with her blood spilling out of his mouth, over his lips and down his chin, as he laid beneath her, dying.

The tears were a steady flow now, she was breathing so quickly and her head was begininng to spin with the horrified images in her mind. She remembered begging the guardians to bring him back, demanding that they save his life and how they turned her down. She remembered using all of her wings, and having them all ripped from her. The pain of having her aura stripped down to almost nothing was nowhere near the pain of loosing him. Nothing near the pain she felt now.

Damon had died trying to help her save Fell's Church, trying to save _**her.**_

Elena pushed her long golden hair behind her ears and took a deep breath. _I have to say goodbye now._ She thought as she turned the knob and pushed open the door.

**2**

Elena closed his door behind her, quietly hoping no one had heard her hysterical sobbing. She wanted this time alone, to breathe in his sent, still lingering here in his room, to cry as she went through every memory she had of him, she wanted to be alone to say goodbye.

She looked around the room. The curtains were open and the moonlight spilled throuh the closed glass, giving her just enough light to see. She thought about when she was with him in the dark dimensions and how he had taught her to channel her power to her eyes so she could see better in the dark and further away than any normal human.

_But I'm just an ordinary human girl now. They stripped me of everything. _

Her legs shook as she walked towards his desk. She ran her hands over the papers he had left laying out, thinking about how his hands had been the ones to last touch every object in this room.

_This is as close to you as I can get now. _And the tears started again.

She made her way over to his bookshelf. She couldn't read any of the names because her vision was blurry. Elena took a deep breath and fanned at her face with her hands. She tried to calm herself but this was the second hardest thing she had ever done.

Then the images came back. She saw herself trying to pull the branches out of Damon's body. Heard Stefan tell explain to her how the branches were growing inside Damon's body and that if she succeeded in pulling out the wood she would only rip out his heart with it.

_That monstrous thing. _

She leaned her head against the books for a second and then made her way to the middle of the room.

"I love you Damon. And I will never forget you. I promise I will try to be brave. Please forgive me for not carrying out your dying wishes until now", she whispered.

Her entire body was shaking now, and numb from the pain. She walked over to his closet door and opened it.

Elena gazed at the row of black Armani shirts. Damon had always worn black. She smiled for a second, thinking of how he always dressed so classy. She then reached out to the end of one of his long sleeved shirts, like she was reaching for his hand at the end... except there was nothing there.

Elena grabbed the empty sleeve and fell to her knees.

_ If only I could hold your hand one last time._

Through her tears she could see that the shirt had fallen with her and it was now on the floor. She snatched it up, not wanting it to get dirty or loose his scent. She held it up to her face and sobbed.

Sharp pains were shooting through her chest. She wanted to scream. She wanted to scream so loud so that where ever he was he would hear her.

_The guardians said they couldn't bring you back because they didn't know where your soul went. That they never knew about vampire's souls..or if they even had them. But I felt your soul, Damon. When we shared blood. I felt it the night at the hotel, when all you wanted was for me to hold you so you wouldn't be alone. I felf it when you taught me how to rotate my aura. I felt it when you kissed me._

Elena got a cold chill down her spine. She had goose bumps and was now shivering from the cold. She stood up and looked towards the window.

_ Was it open before?_

She let the thought pass as she unbottoned the shirt she was holding. She put her arms in the sleeves and wrapped the fabric around her body.

_This is the closest I can get to having your arms around me now. _

Thinking about how he would hold her while flying through the air she walked to his bed. He had done this while she was wearing this exact nightgown. He held her and she felt powerless, tilted her head back and let him drink from the vein in her neck. She laid down and stared at his ceiling. Her memories were so clear it was like she was gazing into his eyes. Those eyes black and full of stars. She started to feel heavy, and dizzy, but not like before. One last tear fell down her cheek before she gave in to the sedation of his compulsion. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, dreaming of him.

**3**

"Elena? Elena, wake up, lovley-love."

Her eyes fluttered open. The brightness of the morning was painful.

_Why did you have to wake me? I was having the best dream..._

She quickly sat up and gasped, looking around.

"Elena? What's wrong?!" Stefan ran his hand down her hair.

She was back in his bed. In _**Stefan's bed.**_ Looking down at herself she saw only white nightgown. Her eyes scanned the room for Damon's shirt, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Nothing, I'm just so excited for today!" Elena lied to Stefan, hoping he hadn't been the one to find her sleeping in Damon's bed. Hoping Stefan hadn't taken Damon's shirt off of her and carried her back to his own room.

"Well, Mrs. Flowers already has breakfast ready and Bonnie and Meredith are here to help you get ready. I think Caroline is just running late..."

_Stefan never talks this much, maybe he's nervous too, _she thought to herself.

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute." She cut him off. He kissed her on the forehead and left the room.

She wanted to go back to Damon's room to see if his closet was open or closed, she wanted to know if it had all been a dream, but she couldn't even go near the door with so many people up and in the boarding house.

Wrapping her robe around herself, she made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. She could smell bacon, eggs, coffee, some of Mrs. Flower's special tea.

"ELENA!" Bonnie yelled and ran to her, hugging her.

"Good morning, Bonnie, Meredith, Mrs. Flowers..." Elena said with a forced smile. She tried to scan Mrs. Flower's over, seeing if she was leaving any hints as to weather or not she had been the one to find Elena in Damon's room. But there was nothing.

Stefan made his way to her, "Alright, Matt is here to pick me up. We're already running late because none of us wanted to wake you. I'll try and talk the church into giving us more time, I'm sure they wont mind."

_He seriously never talks this much..._Elena shook her head.

"Okay, I'll see you at the altar." She said as he kissed her on the cheek and left.

_I can't be so annoyed today. I'm getting married. I can figure out what happened last night later. I have to deal with NOW._

"What time is it?" Elena asked, wondering how late she had slept.

"A quarter to three, dear." Mrs. Flowers answered.

Elena quickly chewed her bacon and gulped down her tea. They were 5 hours behind schedual. She hadn't slept that long in two weeks or more.

_I have to put last night behind me._ And she tried, But it was all she could think about. She hardly noticed when Caroline showed up, or when she fussed about which color of eye-shadow Elena should be wearing.

"Let's finish in the church. They have a dressing room right?" Elena asked.

"Yeah... but everythings already here, Elena." Cool, calm Meredith tried to reassure her.

"But I'm running so late, it would be better to get there now so we can rush getting dressed and just get this over with..." _Oh, God, _Elena though, _did I really just say that?_

"The bride-to-be should always get her way!" Bonnie giggled as she started shoving make-up into bags, "And Queen Elena _always_ has her way."

**4**

The next few hours went by in a blur. Packing up, driving to the church, sipping champagne with the girls as they argued about how her hair should be warn, and finally putting on her dress. It was a simple white gown, simple had always been enough to bring out Elena's natural beauty. It was a sleeveless gown, that fitted her torso and got looser towards her thighs before bellowing out to a beatiful train behind her that Meredith would hold as she walked down the isle.

All of the other girls had put on their bride's maid's dresses and were fussing with their own hair and make-up.

"You guys go and finish. I can fix my veil. Meredith, come and knock right before you walk out there." Elena wanted to be alone. Bonnie snapped one last picture before the three girls left her in the room.

Elena took a deep breath and stared at herself in the 6-foot mirror. Her deep blue eyes reflected her thoughts back to her.

_Am I doing the right thing?_

She tilted her head to the side and ran her hand down her neck. Stefan hadn't fed on her in 2 months, since they announced the engagement. The pain started to swell in her chest again. She closed her eyes, trying not to let the tears escape.

_Breathe, Elena,_ she thought to herself,_ you have to do this. All of those people are out there waiting for you. _She grabbed a tissue and dabbed under her eyes. Her hands were shaking again. The truth was, she had rushed into this and she wasn't ready. She did love Stefan but now she realized she just needed a distraction. She had to keep moving so she wouldn't think about Damon.

_Damon, I need you._

She ran over to the window and opened it, looking out at the sun setting behind her town. She took one last deep breath of the crisp air before walking back to the mirror. Elena grabbed her veil and placed it on top of her head.

_Meredith should be knocking anytime now._Elena put the veil over her face and closed her eyes.

"Elena?"

_Oh, God, I'm hearing things now._ Elena shook her head and kept her eyes closed. His voice was both the only thing she wanted and didn't want to hear right now.

_Damon..._

"Elena?" She heard it again.

_How can these memories be so real?_ The pain in her chest was almost unbearable again.

"ELENA?!"

She jumped and turned around, realizing she was hearing his voice and not only in her head. With her eyes open wide she could now see Damon Salvatore standing between her and the window.

"Damon?" Elena could barely speak because she couldn't seem to inhale correctly.

She ran to his open arms. She felt them around her. She could feel that he was standing there with her, but she almost didn't believe it. She squeezed him tight, and let tears soak the veil that was over her face.

"Damon?" She said again, looking up at him.

"Elena." He said once more while lifting the veil so he could see and touch her beautiful face. She raised her hand to hold his as he cupped her jaw. She stared into his endless black eyes, and felt heavy. Not from compulsion, but from happiness and love. She raised her face to his and pressed her lips to his mouth.

Time felt as if it were moving in slow motion for them. She savored every gentle kiss he placed on her face, jaw, and neck. She felt his fangs sink into her skin and they became one, once again.


End file.
